Synonyms
Human prion disease; Prion; Slow virus infection; Spongiform encephalitis
Short Description or Definition
Kuru is a chronic, progressive, and potentially fatal neurodegenerative disorder of the nervous system. Kuru first reached epidemic proportions among the people of the Okapa District in the Eastern Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea, where the term was derived from the word “kuria/guria” (“to shake from fear”) in the Fore language (Hornabrook 1974). The etymology of the word resonates with kuru’s most conspicuous symptoms of trembling and muscle weakness that increase steadily over time until the person can no longer swallow and eventually dies of starvation. An associated symptom is memory loss, but this does not usually occur until the latter stages of the disease (Khan and Huycke 2016). Kuru is sometimes referred to as the “laughing sickness” for the uncontrollable and sporadic laughter demonstrative of more advanced symptomology. Notable in the unique etiological...
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Diamond, B.J., Kolak, J. (2018). Kuru. In: Kreutzer, J.S., DeLuca, J., Caplan, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57111-9_562
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57111-9_562
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